Gather the Spirit

“Gather the Spirit” is a collaboration with a fine small choir, the Master Singers to Go (MSTG) Choir, directed by my friend Matt Johnsen who also directs music at the UU Church of Worcester MA. I’m proud of the message that adds up through these dozen songs, it’s kind of my theology in song and includes what I think is some of my best poetry and heartfelt expressions.

You’ll hear my interpretations of six of my songs that are in the UU Hymnbooks. All the choir arrangements on the CD are available, some published by Hal Leonard. About half are songs with the choir accompanying me and others feature the choir alone. They range from a capella to boogying with a great rhythm section. The ones that have me as a soloist are also available arranged for choir alone.

Track List & Lyrics

The Oneness of Everything

Jim Scott c 1988

Far beyond the grasp of hands, or light to meet the eye,
Past the reaches of the mind
There find the key to nature’s harmony
In an architecture so entwined.
Like the birds, whose patterns grace the sky
And carry all who join in love, expanding,
The message of peace will rise in flight
Taking the weight of the world upon its wings,
With the oneness of everything.

Peace is in the dance of trees
Who stir before the first breath of wind is yet perceived
Trust in the song, becoming one with the dance,
and all mysteries can be believed.
Songs of lives long past who touch our own
are written in the earth forever giving.
And now to maintain the harmony
gives to us all lives worth living
In the oneness of everything.

Still we seek to find a truth that we might understand,
and reduce to terms defined
Vast and immeasurable time and space
all so overwhelmingly designed.
Oh passing years, just might I know the faith
that winters in the heart to be reborn in Spring.
To hear and to feel the pulse of life
enters my soul as a song to sing,
Of the oneness of everything.

Gather the Spirit

Gather the spirit, harvest the power.
Our separate fires will kindle one flame.
Witness the mystery of this hour.
Our trials in this light appear all the same.
Gather in peace, gather in thanks,
Gather in sympathy now and then.
Gather in hope compassion and strength
Gather to celebrate once again.
Gather the spirit of heart and mind.
Seeds for the sowing are laid in store.
Nurtured in love and conscience refined,
With body and spirit united once more.
Gather in peace, gather in thanks,
Gather in sympathy now and then.
Gather in hope compassion and strength
Gather to celebrate once again.
Gather the spirit, growing in all,
Drawn by the moon and fed by the sun.
Winter to Spring, and Summer to Fall,
The chorus of life resounding as one.

Come Into This Place

Words William Schultz, Music Jim Scott

Come into this place of peace
And let it’s silence heal your spirit.
Come into this place of memory
And let it’s history warm your soul.
Come into this place of prophecy and power
And let it’s vision change your heart.

If There is No Holy Spirit

If there is no holy spirit,
What sets the rhythm of the beating heart?
If there is no holy spirit
What holds together lovers who are far apart?
What conducts the winds in their travels from far?
If there is no holy spirit
What fire burns in every fleeting star?

If there is no holy spirit

From what wisdom does compassion rise?

If there is no holy spirit
How does simple water focus light through human eyes?
What wisdom sent the rain from the fleeting clouds above?
If there is no holy spirit
Tell me what defines a parent’s love?

Who can explain elusive senses

That inform the artist’s brave creation
Something greater – takes you higher
Resonates in inspiration
That brings the healing to a troubled heart
Suspending time, erasing separation
Suspending time _

If there is no holy spirit
How do plants take the strength of a distant sun?
If there is no holy spirit
How is a fragile life begun?
What turns this living earth from winter toward the spring?
If there is no holy spirit,
What moves in every living thing?

In the spirit of the moment
Has this song reached you somehow?
If there is no holy sprit,
What is it
You’re feeling – now?

I Am Waiting

I am waiting in the silence; I am waiting for the dawn
I am often found in reverence, though from many sources drawn.
It is not mine to fight for justice, for it will not be won this day
I am peace and I am waiting for the lost to find their way.

You’ll not find me set in judgment of the vain or of the weak.
But I rise to meet the weary with the solace that they seek.
Still I have not fed the hungry, nor strewn wealth among the poor.
I am peace, and bring but mystery and the patience to endure.

I cannot save the suffering from their anger and their pain
Only open doors of insight, so the healing comes again.
To the proud I am elusive, to the humble I am near.
May the broken rise and look beyond the trappings of their fears.

I am found among the seasons, autumn’s death and spring’s rebirth,
As relentless, their momentum, as the turning of the earth.
All are welcome in my presence, for only love can conquer hate,
I am peace and for the harvest, I have planted and will wait.

All Around the Child

Ancient story lived again, dark of longest night.
Birth of innocence and hope kindles our delight.
All celebrate the labor’s end.
Forth in laughter, tear and smile.
Light of love and joy extend all around the child.

New life fragile yet complete, life from love once more.
Universal miracle, faith in life re-store.
The harmony of all the world
Lulls the new-born child to rest.
Welcome dreamer, safely sleep, radiant on your mother’s breast.

May our wonder never cease, Nature’s greatest art.
Birth and breath of life again warms the coldest heart.
Now rich and simple gifts bestowed,
Sacred promises well made.
Reverence and hope renewed all around the babe.

Vision for humanity, all around the child.
Loving as one family, all around the child.
Life passages well understood,
Known and felt a-round the earth;
Rich or poor we each are blessed by the miracle of birth.